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A vacationing young lady meets, falls in love with, and marries handsome and wealthy widower Maxim de Winter. He takes his new bride home to his estate, Manderley. But the new Mrs. de Winter finds her married life dominated by the sinister, almost spectral influence of Maxim's late wife, Rebecca, who still rules from beyond the grave.

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Rebecca is an ageless, timeless adult movie about a woman who marries a widower but fears she lives in the shadow of her predecessor. This was Hitchcock's first American feature, and it garnered the Best Picture statue at the 1941 Academy Awards.

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While on assignment in Monte Carlo with her wealthy employer, a timid secretary is swept off her feet by dashing millionaire Maxim de Winter who marries her before transporting her to Manderlay, his luxuriously appointed though cheerless seaside estate. Sadly, her fairytale romance comes to an abrupt end when she discovers that the memory of de Winter’s late wife Rebecca, by all accounts a beautiful and vivacious force of nature, is still very much alive not only in her husband’s thoughts but especially in the heart of Mrs. Danvers the psychotic housekeeper who insists on maintaining her late mistress’ boudoir as if it were a shrine. Unable to compete with a ghost, the new Mrs. de Winters slowly sinks into despair aided by an obviously unhinged Danvers who goads her into contemplating suicide. But Rebecca had some dark secrets of her own which Maxim slowly reveals to his new bride—secrets that could either save their floundering marriage or destroy it forever. Alfred Hitchcock’s first Hollywood film (and only Oscar winner) is an over-the-top gothic love story laced with fog and shadows; where steely glances cast daggers and a pervasive sense of gloom threatens to snuff out any hint of happiness. Although Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier are perfectly cast as the newlyweds, her squeaky little dormouse playing against his grief-stricken stoicism, it is Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers who steals every scene—her not entirely sane glares hinting at evil intentions and forbidden desires as she jealously berates the helpless bride while fawning lovingly over the dead Rebecca’s collection of fur coats and panties. Unintentionally camp by today’s standards but that only makes it more enjoyable!

From the opening line to the last scene, this movie provides lots of chills. And with all the elements of suspense, the brooding housekeeper, the lusty old friend of the dead wife, the overly mysterious husband, this film hits every nerve.